International hunt for £300k cocaine suspect

An international manhunt has been launched for a suspected drugs smuggler after £300,000 of cocaine was illegally imported into the country.

Detectives want to quiz Robert Knight over the smuggling of six kilograms of Venezualen drugs into Britain through Heathrow Airport.

Officers managed to intercept the cocaine but the 51 year-old has remained at large.

An arrest warrant has now been issued for Knight whose last known address was in the Brownhills area, but also has links to Lichfield and Birmingham as well as Belgium, Gibraltar, Thailand and South Africa.

West Midlands Police believe Knight may be living in the Eastepona area of Spain, around 20 minutes from the holiday hotspot of Marbella.

Holidaymakers are now being urged to contact the force if they recognise Knight.

The illegal consignment was intercepted by West Midlands officers as part of Operation Barussa, an investigation into the importation and distribution of illegal drugs and associated money laundering by a large criminal network.

The police operation to target the importation and distribution of illegal drugs and associated money laundering saw five men arrested in 2008. They were later jailed.

Knight left the country at around the same time as the drugs, worth £300,000, were seized.

Sgt Dave Simpson, who is leading the manhunt, said: "Operation Barussa was a complex undercover investigation aimed at disrupting the importation of Class A drugs into the UK by targeting those at the top of an organised criminal network," he said.

"Thanks to our efforts, £300,000 worth of cocaine was taken off the streets and five individuals jailed for their involvement in this and associated criminality.

"Despite this success, we would still like to speak with Walsall man Robert Knight who has so far evaded our efforts to clear up the matter.

"That is why I am asking law abiding people to join forces with the international policing community and help us trace Mr Knight once and for all.

"I would urge anyone returning from the Estepona area of Spain to take a moment to look at the photograph of Robert Knight and contact us if they recognise him.

"Someone may have seen him in a local shop, restaurant or even sunning himself on the beach. He may also have inadvertently been caught him on camera while someone taking holiday snaps of their mates."

Anyone with information can call sgt Simpson on 101 or Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.